Everything is browning up here, but the conditions are excellent. Greens are stimping about 11. Fairways are nearly perfect, and the rough is thick, but in most areas, only about 2-3 inches, so very playable. Still a very tough course, but not quite as difficult as mid-summer.

Yesterday was likely my last NJ round of the year. I've said that twice before but given that I can only play on weekends right now and the 2 week forecast is grim, that was likely it. My game has been mediocre at best the last 6 weeks - not scrambling like normal, although that is partly conditions, but my ball striking has been much weaker than normal to the point of being unsettling and of course I have struggled greatly with driving the ball. So out of nowhere I shot a rock solid 76 to end the year. Given it didn't break 50 degrees and the course was soft, was probably an even better round that the score shows.

Particularly good was the back nine - ugly bogey on 10, saves from difficult positions on 11 and 12, then a bogey on 13 where I wasted two really good shots on a par 5 - things weren't going well. From there went -1 on last 5 holes with only one mediocre shot, a pull into a bunker from which I made a nice sandy. Last 5 drives were in the fairway, had an 8i almost hit the pin, a 25 footer for bird, a couple of other good looks at bird from solid irons, a sandy - the point is there was nothing in the last 5 holes to haunt my winter. Wish every season could end this way.

Okay, today was a special day out there for me. I had a first. Have never seen anyone do what I accomplished today which I'll get to in a sec. I have been playing well of late and it continued today, for the 4th day in a row. Played the front nine (the tougher of the two nines) twice 'cause it was too busy on the back to finish 18. Played the first nine in 2 1/2 hours. Went around the front again in an hour and 10 minutes the second time. Shot 38 the first nine and 41 the second front nine, for my third 79 in three days. Very satisfied with my play the last 4 days actually, as I shot 80 the day before I went on the 79 streak. The 80 was from the whites, all the 79s were from the blue tees.

Today's special highlight happened on the first nine. I am usually always confident with my short game, but today I made a real statement with my wedges, nearly flipping out the guy I was playing with. On the first, my approach into the wind came up a few feet short of the green and 15 yards from the hole. Chipped a 54 degree, landing it exactly on my spot and watched it roll into the hole for a no-putt/chip in birdie 3.

On the next/2nd hole, hit my approach onto the green, but it rolled off the back, two feet into the rough. Took out my trusty 54 again, picked my spot and hit it exactly, rolling it up a slope and, again, into the hole for back-to-back birdies. Still no putts.

I'll skip the details of the 3rd hole. Nothing special.

4th hole, and the last I will bore you with. Another perfect drive and an 8i approach uphill to a blind green with a back pin. As I watched it in the air, I thought it would be close. I saw it bounce upon hitting the green. But when I got to the green I didn't see it. Could it be in the hole? It was not. It had trickled off the back, two feet into the rough, leaving me a touchy flop-chip to a short-sided pin, 2 yards onto the back of the green. 58* wedge to my spot and into the hole for my 3rd-chip in birdie in 4 holes! The guy I was playing with almost shit a brick!

If it weren't for some bad luck/bounces on the rest of that round it could have been a great score too, not that I'm complaining about the 38. Only made one bad swing the rest of the way, but I guess I had used up all my good mojo on those three chip-ins.

Today may turn out to be the last day of winter golf around here. I had a good round going at Silver Lake. 7 over with three holes to go, good chance to break 80 and close out 2017 on a high note. Then tragedy struck.

#7 is the shallowest green I have ever seen anywhere, pitch and putts INCLUDED. It's a saddleback hump and going into the green, usually with sand wedge, you have literally four yards of depth to work with. Miss those four yards and you miss the green sadly.

Perfect drive down the middle left 70y in. With elevation I figure about 90 to carry. Partial sand wedge off a bare lie; I was anxious at that point but fuckin shit, hit it really nice and plopped on the middle of the green.

I am ecstatic now. I have 20' for birdie, going mostly along the top ridge of this ridiculous hump. Well I guess I wasn't deathly scared enough by this putt as I should have.

It was not a bad putt. It looked like it would settle close. But then it caught some slope and started trickling toward the false front. Then, it caught the false front and rolled all the way down into the rough leaving an impossible short AND short side chip. I tried to hole out the next, chubbed it and rolled back down into rough.

Then I missed the two footer for triple bogey.

20' birdie putt... walked off with an 8. Statistically that is a six-putt. Probably my first one. Now, I think the season is going to end, and I will be forced to sit on this turd over the whole winter, stewing in bitterness and regret. Think I finished at 82. FTS

legitimatebeef wrote:
20' birdie putt... walked off with an 8. Statistically that is a six-putt. Probably my first one. Now, I think the season is going to end, and I will be forced to sit on this turd over the whole winter, stewing in bitterness and regret. Think I finished at 82. FTS

Sorry, just had to laugh. Years ago I was trying to break 90 for the first time. I shot 90 on the nose 4 times in 7 rounds but couldn't get into the 80's. I came to the par 5 15th, which at the time had my number, 12 over par. Hit two good shots to get to 150 yards, then somehow turned those shots into a triple bogey 8. Then went bogey, double, and then bogey to finish with another 90. Weather turned so it became the last round of the year and it ate at me all winter long. Terrible feeling for 5 months.

You should laugh. It's insane. Been thinkin' about it ever since. Went to an Xmas party, still thinkin about it. I'm almost glad that it happened, just because it's a funny story. I can break 80 any old stupid time, i think. And this is a cautionary tale. You really cannot even THINK about messing with the false edges of this particular green. I should have aimed my putt at least 2' away from the hole. God Almighty! Normally that's not how you would hit a putt that appears mostly straight. But this is an extraordinary green, it really is. Here is some satellite imagery. Jesus Christ, it's only 50 FEET deep!!!!

82 at Silver Lake. Guess it was too cold for most people. I stood on the first tee and surveyed the empty course. PUSSIES, I said, to the world. Too cold for you, isn't it. And when I got to the back tee on the par 3 third hole I looked over the entire box for a broken tee but it was completely barren--sign of desertion for sure. PUSSIES! The handful of people that did come out were rewarded, I think. The sun broke out a little bit later, the winds sat down a bit and it was actually nice out there, winter-nice at least. I had so much fun, there were some really good game moments today. Took on a really nasty chip, trying to fly it right up to the hole with some spin and it came out brilliant, next level stuff--one for the old memory bank. The general winter course set up is nasty actually, pins set right up against edges, up really close to false edges in a couple instances. On the 17th green at Silver Lake it is very possible to putt your ball off the right false edge and out of bounds, never seen that anywhere else. Today the pin was two paces from that edge. But I learned a lesson after six-putting on this same course last time out. Be safe. Winter golf can get dangerous.

Walked back nine only. 38 strokes. 42 degrees. 10 mph wind. Pushed around my fully-loaded 50 lbs. staff bag. If I had remembered to bring my stand bag, would have walked 18. I was really playing too well to quit. But I did anyway.

Same as for Beef above, the course was empty. Only two other cars in the parking lot in addition to the club pro's. WInter golf, gotta love it. It was 55 degrees yesterday and we had over 100 players. Today, 42 degrees and we had 3. Yup Beef, a bunch of fairweather PUSSIES. My favorite kind.

Played this past weekend and it was cold (for Atlanta) and it got wet. Temps were hovering around 50, and it was overcast. The course was pretty empty which is a rare sight there. I Started on 10 and played through 2 groups on that side, and had the course to myself after that.

It started out really well, i was 2 under through 8 with 3 brides (2 1-putts and one putt from the fringe) then the wheels came off. I bogied the very easy par 5 18th after the worst drive of the day, then doubled the very easy par 5 1st with another gem off the tee. Then i got in my own head and was seeing red. I came up short on the 2nd (a par 3 that for some unknown reason always plays longer) and continued to spiral. BUT, i chipped in from a few yards off the green to a center pin for bird.

And that's where the highlights ended. I ended up with 2 more doubles and a bogey to finish up with a +6 back and a +5 total 77. Not a bad round when all was said and done, but after such a great start it was still disappointing.

One contributing factor to the collapse was the weather when i made the turn. IT got significantly cooler out and started to rain. Clubs were going 10 yards less than they had the previous hour and it took me too many holes to adjust.

88 at Silver Lake Insufficient leg strength. Thin wipes all day. Flat out skulled a 3i on the last hole. Pushed it too hard by going out today but who cares, it was pretty fun, and the weather was kind of pleasant other than the dark gloom.

I finished at 3:30 and decided to play some more. First three holes went so well I said Fuck it, I can get back in before sunset. Let's go all the way around the front. I played a lot better than the first 18, like +6, and I did in 39 minutes!!! Full Rules of Golf and everything. Probably lag putted a couple with the flagstick in, but hey aren't they going to change that rule anyways?

Got an eye on Sunday, low 40s. After that forecast looks pretty dicey.

83. On the front I was a miserable mess. Spewing forth thick streams of foul cursing. It was intense, emotionally. On the back I started to play golf again. +3 on the second nine. I really got into it. If this is the end, it was a good last round.

The course played so long. It rained all yesterday. I couldn't reach the green. Several times I'd hit it right at the flag only to watch it drop out of the sky, short of the green. On the longest par 4 a driver and a well-hit 3w didn't reach the green. After I chipped to two feet I said to the universe, "I don't need your fuckin G I R". Same thing happened on my last hole. I cursed so much today, probably more than ever. Started cruising on the back nine, made five pars in a row, almost six except for a nasty sidehill putt that I hit so weakly I started cursing myself again. "You mental fuckin' freak." "Piss in your open mouth." It's horrible, like "The Exorcist" or something. At one point I was muttering, "I don't care. I don't care." I am so mental. I take golf probably too serious.

Shot my best round by 1 today: 74. I have to admit it was on a par 70 and I played from the white tees (just under 5800 yards) to accommodate the other 3 guys I met on the tee. One of them should have moved up even further, lol. Three birdies from stiff iron shots helped a lot. I figure it counts because you still have to put the ball in the hole and it's not an executive course, right? Hey, I'll take it!

I played 18 today. Felt wonderful to finally be back out there. 50+ degree temps. After 2 1/2 weeks off, I was surprised to put together a good round (80), even though I started off double/double. Hoping to get back out there tomorrow in the (supposed) 60* rain. It was like Spring out there today. Cold again next week. But for now, I'm happy.